Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 22 /Trend H.Hasanov/
The president of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, who is in Brazil to attend the UN conference on sustainable development, met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Turkmen government said on Friday.
The parties discussed 'important aspects of cooperation in ensuring global energy security and the formation of its legal basis, streamlining traffic flow in the Eurasian region and solving environmental problems', the information said.
In this context, official Ashgabat considers it appropriate to create an inter-regional energy dialogue under UN auspices in order to combine the efforts of UN member states that are actively involved in the formation of the international legal framework of the field of energy.
In turn, the Russian prime minister stressed the importance of "further promotion of equal and trustful dialogue in all fields, both bilaterally and multilaterally."
Mutual interest in the practical implementation of joint programmes and projects in high technology industries, including the development of alternative energy sources and innovative technologies on the basis of strict adherence to the principles of environmental protection was also expressed.
'The Russian Federation appreciates the achievements of Turkmenistan's foreign policy and socio-economic sectors and its focus on diversifying the national economy through the development of constructive international cooperation', a government statement said quoting Medvedev.
"Turkmenistan and Russia have gained a wealth of experience in strategic interaction which is filled with new content at this stage that meets the long term interests of both fraternal and friendly nations," Berdymuhamedov said.
The parties also exchanged views on international issues during the meeting. They expressed interest in deepening cooperation in the field of global security, the consolidation of efforts in addressing the global economic, social and environmental problems.
'In this respect, the parties reiterated their commitment to the strengthening of large scale interaction in the international arena, especially within the UN framework, stressing the need to improve mechanisms for responding to crises that threaten world peace and stability', the media said.
Russia and Turkmenistan are major exporters of natural gas among the CIS countries. Russia ranks third in the total turnover of Turkmenistan that amounted to $1 billion 235.41 million.
The strategic direction in the relationship between the two countries is with cooperation in the field of fuel and energy. Turkmenistan's gas comes to Russia by the Middle Asia - Centre (CAC) pipeline through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Customer - JSC Gazprom (Russia) signed an agreement with Turkmenistan on gas supplies for 25 years in 2003.
Currently, the CAC does not work at full capacity. Russia under the influence of the global recession has been reducing its quota since 2010 with the purchase of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas which is four times less than in 2008.
Russian companies are participating in the development of hydrocarbon resources in Turkmenistan, Russian Itera and Zarubezhneft where the work is under a production sharing agreement on one of the blocks in the Caspian Sea.
There are about 180 joint ventures today in Turkmenistan among which are Russian companies involved in the construction of several industrial and social facilities, roads and communications.